Column #99 Kanji Clinic, The Japan Times, October 21, 2009
"Get set for next year's overhaul of joyo kanji"

Kanji aficionados and educators are buzzing over the biggest kanji news in nearly three decades: Next fall, for the first time since 1981, the Japanese government is expected to announce a revision of the joyo (general-use) kanji list. Currently numbering 1,945, these kanji comprise the official list allowed for use in newspapers and government publications, and Japanese school children are meant to learn them all before they complete compulsory education.

Since 1981, a tsunami of kanji has crashed into Japanese daily life, creating
a pressing need for the government to reassess exactly how many and which
kanji its citizenry should be expected to read and write. Due to advances
in Japanese software technology, 10,000 characters-- five times the current
number of joyo kanji--can be called up on cell phones and personal computers
with the tap of a finger.

A committee of the Council for Cultural Affairs, the chief think tank within the Agency for Cultural Affairs (which advises the education minister), began hammering out the revised joyo list four years ago, and in September 2008 it announced 191 kanji candidates for first-time inclusion. None of the candidates have changed in the last year, but the committee may still tweak the 191 before issuing its final recommendations in February.

Five characters from the current joyo list are slated for removal: L (SEN, pig iron),  (tsumu, spindle), æ (monme, a unit of weight), Ù (shaku, a unit of capacity), and ¯ (CHOU, swell). The candidate list as it stands, therefore, is comprised of 2,131 characters.

Vigorous debate about the list has taken place in committee meetings over the past four years. Japanese language educators have objected in vain to the inclusion of such adult-themed kanji as ú (IN, lewd),  (EN, charming/voluptuous) and q, (ka-keru, gamble). Two kanji much requested in a public-comment forum last spring were é (taka, hawk) and ` (kaki, persimmon), but the panel has decided not to include these. Also, it has elected not to axe forum participantsf least-popular kanji, T (UTSU, melancholy), written with an eye-popping 29 strokes.

Eleven characters comprising the names of prefectures and major cities (e.g., ã, saka, slope, as in åã, Osaka; Þ, NA, what, in ÞÇ, Nara and _Þì Kanagawa; , FU, hill, in ò, Gifu; and F, kuma, bear, in F{, Kumamoto) will make their joyo debut, as will Ø (KAN, South Korea). All these are currently classified as jinmei (name) kanji.

In addition to frequency of use, the committee also considered charactersf ability to serve in compound words. For example, now that àø (HEKI, splendid) is poised to become general-use, kanpeki (perfect) officially can be written with two kanji (®àø, complete + splendid) instead of its off-kilter kanji-kana manifestation, ®Ø«. Commonly used compound words such as aisatsu (¥A, greetings), shitto (¹i, jealousy), and aimai (B, vague) are each comprised of two new joyo kanji.

Another panel consideration was the preservation of Japanese culture through its written language, as evidenced by such candidates as ê (KI, skill, in Ìê, kabuki), w (mou-deru, visit a temple, in w, hatsumoude, New Yearfs Day temple visit), and  (ai, indigo, in õ, aizome, indigo dying).

Pronunciations were also debated. For new joyo kanji ¦ (tremendous, amazing), for example, SEI (as in ¦S, seisan, lurid) will be approved, but the commonly heard sugo-i will not.

Whet your appetite for learning the new joyo kanji with todayfs quiz:
It tests your knowledge of food and drink words containing joyo newbies.
And dig further into the new kanji feast here, where you will find a list of all 191 candidates, along with their pronunciations,
example compound words, and an English meaning for each.

QUIZ
Match the following food and drinks, all containing one or two new joyo
kanji candidates, with their meanings and pronunciations below. Current
joyo kanji are underlined. Answers are below.